Selena Gomez opened up to Amy Schumer in a new profile for Interview Magazine published Monday (April 13) about reclaiming her narrative from the media, her health journey and more.
“My intention was never to become a tabloid,” the superstar told Schumer about the constant scrutiny she’s endured over her career. “So when things kind of happened that way, it got out of control. And then I was like, ‘Wait, none of this is true.’ The way the media has sometimes tried to explain things has made it sound really bad, when in reality there’s nothing wrong with the fact that I needed to go away or that I fell in love. I had to start opening up because people were taking away my narrative, and it was killing me. I’m so young and I’m going to keep changing, and no one has the right to tell me how my life’s going.”
During the chat, Gomez reflected on using her celebrity to speak out about mental and physical health. “I’ve gone through a lot of medical issues, and I know that I can reach people who are going through similarly scary things — an organ transplant, or being on dialysis, or going away for treatment,” she said. “A huge part of why I have a platform is to help people. That’s why I think I’m okay with the magnitude. I mean, I’m not really okay with it — but I’m going to say that I am because it’s worth it. I know that I’m making someone somewhere feel good, or feel understood or heard, and that’s worth it for me.”
The superstar also opened up about the process of creating her latest album, Rare, starting with lead single — and Gomez’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 — “Lose You To Love Me.”
“I wrote it at the beginning of last year, and had just gotten out of treatment,” she revealed. “It was a moment when I came back and I was like, ‘I’m ready to go into the studio with people I trust and start working on songs.’ There was an air around it where people were very happy, because it was like I was going to finally be me. But I didn’t necessarily see it that way at the time. When I wrote the song, I was basically saying that I needed to hit rock-bottom to understand that there was this huge veil over my face.”
Check out Gomez’s Interview Magazine cover below.
